About Town with LaVern Johnson – January 16, 2020
Another week gone by… and it was cold enough to freeze the ice on the Town’s ice skating rink. All are happy!
TOWN HALL NEWS
As a result of Martin Luther King Jr. day being on Monday, January 20, the next Town Board meeting is Tuesday, January 21, at 7 p.m.
Due to the retirement of Debbie Anthony, as of January 1 Delores Vasquez is now Town Clerk and Marissa Davis is the Deputy Town Clerk. With Marissa leaving the Parks and Recreation Department, the following describes the duties in that department: Arielle Hodgson will do special events, and the E-Blast; Lisa Ramsey is in charge of children and senior activities; Kim Mitchell is still the director of community programs and relations; and Dave Cosgrove is still the director of parks and public works. Some of their phone extensions have changed too.
Run for the Board of Trustees. The deadline to get your petitions in is January 27 to run for the Town Board for the next two years. You have to live in town for a year, be a registered voter, and have your petition signed by registered voters residing within the town limits. The Town Board election is April 7 for six board members and the Mayor. Go to: http://www.townoflyons.com/589/Run-for-Mayor-or-Trustee
Our thanks to all the Board members who have served.
Increases in water and wastewater are by $4.00 monthly increments per 1,000 gallons. Water service rates will increase $1.00 per 1,000 gallons, and will take effect on February 2020 bills. Watch for water leaks in your home or outside. The bills add up! Be sure to read the summary of the board meetings in the News section of this newspaper for more on the waste disposal costs and water meters.
SCHOOL NEWS
I believe the school news is very important. Contact the Lyons Recorder editor if you can help write weekly reports.
Tid Bits are: On Wednesday the St. Vrain District Honor Orchestra played at Frederick. It was also 9th grade planning night. Support the Booster Club by attending the fun Sunday Bingo games in Longmont. The senior athletes signed Letters of Intent this week. In basketball, Lyons girls won over Front Range Academy and the boys beat Longmont Christian in close games last week. The Lyons girls lost in a close game against Gilpin High School Tuesday night, and the boys won 45-43.
Lyons Lions high school wrestlers, who are rated fifth in the State, placed third at the wrestling tournament in Lyons on Saturday. Highland is first with 214; Wiggins 142; and Lyons 130 points. On Thursday, January 16, they will meet Platte Valley, at 6:30 p.m. Matches are free to attend. They will be wrestling under their recently installed mat spotlight.
TOWN ACTIVITIES
The Dinner and Community Storytelling takes place Thursday, January 16, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Lyons Regional Library. We want to remind the registered people to bring plates and utensils. It is sponsored by LEAF and Wide Spaces Community Initiative. It will be held every third Thursday of each month; open to all ages.
The fourth annual Denver Women’s March is happening this Saturday, January 18, 10:00 a.m., Denver Civic Center. A few people are trying to organize carpooling. Go to Sandstone Park at 8:00 a.m. and people will sort out who will be driving. A closer option for those not wanting to go to Denver: Longmont, 6th and Main; 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. https://www.womensmarchdenver.org/
Volunteer work is continuing at Lyons’ Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, from 10:00 a.m. to noon, winter hours, weather permitting. All volunteers invited; just show up. Wear proper clothes that are warm, and gloves and heavy shoes. Bring water and a few basic tools, if you have them. The paths are done; come and see them.
The Lyons Chamber of Commerce will hold its January Social on Tuesday, the 21st at Oskar Blues Grill & Brew at 6 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., Lawrence LeBlanc, owner of Lyons’ Hempsual CBD, will give a presentation on what CBD is, the benefits, and how it is created. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. The chamber invites all businesses to become members. It advertises to folks to stop and enjoy Lyons on their way to the Rocky Mountain National Park. They spread the news of our history, beautiful parks, great stores and restaurants, etc.
The Chamber has also restarted in 2020 the First Friday walks on January 3. Check out their Facebook page to see who will be open in February, and what specials or music they are offering. Support your local businesses
Old Man Winter Bike Rally and Race will be put on by AdventureFit on February 9. Stay tuned for more information.
The Town’s ice skating rink in LaVern M. Johnson Park is open, as of last Saturday, and it had a very big turnout. Skate rentals are available at the Concession Stand on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. when the rink is open. There is a skate drop box when finished skating. Rental Prices are one-day rental $4.00 an hour or $8.00 for half day; 2 week rental is $20.00 for Lyons residents, and $25.00 for non-residents. Users may use their own skates.
A good crowd attended the Winter Wonderland Concert and ice skating Saturday afternoon at the Johnson Park. Thanks to the Good Manners band for great music, and the Lyons Community Foundation for the cocoa and cookies. The next Concert will be Saturday January 25 with music by Joe Kuckla & Irons in the Fire. Also, on February 8 will be the Jesse Garland band. All will have free ice skating, cocoa and cookies. Bring your own mug for cocoa. See you there!
Larry Cohan, longtime Lyons artist who died in November, will be honored at a reception at the Lyons Regional Library on Wednesday, February 5, at 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. This is the Lyons Arts and Humanities (LAHC) first Art Show of the year. This is in addition to the continuing quarterly LAHC Town Hall Art Shows. Larry, brother to Priscilla and Hanna Cohan, is noted for his many paintings of the flood (his flood collection is also at the Museum) and others. He was heading the effort for a Flood Memorial in Lyons, which is still being planned by the family. See you there.
Defined Motion Dance (formerly Mayama) has announced that they finally found a great yoga instructor, and will offer classes every Thursday 6:45 to 8:00 p.m. They got a lot of requests for this class. This is an all levels class. $15 drop-in fee.
Model building will be held on Thursday, January 16 at 6 p.m., at the Lyons Community Church. Sonny Smith is the teacher. You can call him at 303-598-7418 or the church at 303-823-6245. You do not need to bring anything. Boxed model kits will be provided. Have fun!
The High Street Concert had a good crowd on January 11 with Sugar Moon and Chandler Holt Trio. Thanks to all the volunteers that have been putting these on for 14 years at Rogers Hall. The next Concert will be Saturday, February 8 with Blue Canyon Boys; and Release Party for their new album; with special guest Jackson Earls. On March 14, you can hear Take Down the Door, and bluegrass Dahlby & Nadine.
Local artist Magali Fournier opened a show of her art at the Fork Restaurant last week. See this newspaper’s Arts section for details on all the shows in town.
K. C. Groves is teaching a jam music class that isn’t how to teach people to play instruments, but rather how to fit your playing into a jam situation. Sounds fun. it is the fifth time she has taught this class. It is called the Wernick Method. It is open to all ages. Write to office@letspick.org for more information.
Twenty-two area Seniors enjoyed the Monet Art Show at the Denver Art Museum on Monday, January 13. It showed over 120 of his paintings. Wonderful! Thank you to the Town of Lyons for arranging this bus trip.
PARKS AND RECREATION
The Lyons Parks and Recreation Commission held their monthly meeting Monday, January 13. Pam Barnes stated they needed more help for the Christmas Parade (Make a note for next December).
Flood recovery is proceeding with opening of trails, plant replacement and reseeding. Bohn Park: They are striving to have the ball fields ready for summer. Lyons’ 14 teams of ball players will again join the Longmont League. The pump house is working. The pavilion is progressing, and the retaining walls for the skate park are close to being finished. Funds for the Fourth Street pedestrian bridge are being sought, and meetings on raising matching funds will be scheduled. The Second Avenue bridge design is about finished. The project will continue through 2020.
Lisa Ramsey, Recreation Coordinator, reported that she is making plans for the children’s and seniors’ programs in spring, as well as youth baseball, softball, and soccer.
The Commission voted that they approve of the town owning the 11 acres of Apple Valley Buyout land. This will now go before the Lyons Town Board and Boulder County, with the Buyout land to remain passive use with no structures.
LIFE NEWS
Tom Hendricks Celebration of Life will be this coming Saturday, January 18, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Nederland Community Center. There will be parking at the Caribou Room, with two Peaceful Rides shuttles to the Community Center. For 49 years Tom worked the Cross Gold Mine on Caribou Mountain. His life story can be found in the Mountain Ear newspaper.
Local Tracey Jimenez was highlighted in the Longmont Magazine this month for her work on Cervical Cancer Awareness. This week, she met with the Longmont City Council and the Mayor of Longmont, and they presented her with a Proclamation. She had applied for the city to have January Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. She is a survivor of the cancer and is helping raising awareness about this disease and how it can be prevented, and has done many fundraisers.
Shauna Lee, owner of Bella la Crema butter store, celebrated her business’ recognition world-wide on Saturday with a free Bubbles, Bread and Butter night. She has been mentioned in several local magazines last year, and it has gone on to bigger ones, including Food and Wine magazine and Lonely Planet. She also got a mention as the world’s first butter bar in many countries across the world, including Bulgaria and the United Kingdom! She is part of the Wonder Tours Guided Food Tour coming to Lyons, with additional behind-the-scenes stops at Spirit Hound Distillers and The Lyons Den Restaurant and Taphouse. Thanks Shauna for choosing Lyons to set up your store and make Lyons famous for the butters! They will be closed until January 20, while they churn more butter.
Lots of people are getting their Christmas trees recycled. They are being wood chipped and fed to local farms with pigs and goats. Baer Mountain & Urban Forestry worked with the town last week and chipped more than 125 trees.
Lyons Emergency Assistance Fund (LEAF) leadership team received glass-engraved awards this week at their annual party that celebrates the outgoing board and welcomes the incoming board. Special thanks went to Board Chair Tanya Daty and Treasurer Susan DeCastro McCann for their great work. Directors elected were Tricia Schultz Marsh as Chair, Rebecca Nash Major as Vice Chair, Greg Lyons as Treasurer, and Heather Santesteban as Secretary, and Crystal L White. Lyons is so thankful to LEAF’s staff who help with the Food Bank and more: Deb Kinsey Tabor, Nancy Reckling, Monique Sawyer-Lang, Eric Andresen, and Chérie Maureaux, along with Executive Director Lory Barton.
The Lyons Recorder newspaper committee held a congratulatory gathering at Oskar Blues on Saturday evening to “hash over the first issue of the Lyons Recorder (very successful) and to make plans to continue.” The new online newspaper was featured in the Longmont Times Call and Daily Camera, and mentioned on KUNC public radio, on Tuesday, January 14. We thank them for promoting our newspaper. Yes, we need to know what is going on in this town! If you have news, we want it! Send your news to lyonsrecorder.editor@gmail.com. Thanks. Watch for a new issue every Thursday, and breaking news when it happens.
